Symptoms of Kidney Failure

Since the consequences of ESRD are severe and treatment options very limited, one should always detect any kidney failure at an early stage to prevent or retard development of ESRD. One should be aware of following symptoms of kidney disease :

• Puffiness around the eyes, particularly in the morning.
• Swelling of the legs and sometimes of the whole body.
• Burning sensation while urinating.
• Red or coffee coloured urine.
• Change in pattern of urination including increased frequency of urination and having to get up more often at night to pass urine.
• Pain in the back just below the ribs.
• High blood pressure.
• Increasing weakness.

These symptoms of kidney disease however may be absent. Patients may lose a great deal of their kidney function without any of these symptoms appearing. When the kidneys are damaged, the amount of urine that is passed may not decrease until the amount of damage is extremely severe and perhaps only 5% of the normal kidney function remains.

What is Uremia ?

When the kidney damage becomes severe, virtually every system of the body is affected leading to a symptom complex called uremia.

These symptoms appear slowly and may be difficult to recognize. The symptoms include :

• Weakness.
• Fatigue.
• Loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting.
• Weight loss.
• Itching.
• Tingling sensation in the feet.
• Bone Pain.
• Breathlessness.
• Once the symptoms of uremia develop, it becomes necessary to institute definitive treatment in the form of dialysis or kidney transplantation.

Source : Narmada Kidney Foundation : Link : http://www.narmadakidney.org/INDEX.ASP?PAGE=SYMPTOMS